Football apparatus



V2 Sheets-Set l fil/@Mr May 19,- 1925.

C.B.MORAN FOOTBALL APPARATUS Filed 9ct. iso, 1922 May 19, ums.v

lcz. B. MORAN FOOTBALL APPARATUS Filed Oct. 50, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 19,y 1925.

' CHARLES B. MoEAN, or HonsE CAVEKENTUCKY.

FOOTBALL 'AIEIPARA'IUSI Application led October 30, 1922.V Serial No. 597,725.

To all r107mm, 'it con/cern.'` Be it known that I, CHARLES B. MoRAN,

` a citizen of the United States, residing at Horse Cave, in the county of Hart and State of Kentucky, have invented new and useful Improvements in Football Apparatus, of .which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for the instruction and practice of football.

One object of my invention is to provide a structure whereby a plurality of tackling dummies may be distributed in various positions over an area of a playing field and thus permit placing the dummies in the positions' of players on a team 4when lined up for either attack or defense, or in other positions-during the course of a play, in order that instruction and practice may be had in tackling, interference,` ruiming in broken fields, studying and meeting the'formations of various plays and other conditions encountered in an actual game offootball.`

Another object of my invention is to make the dummies shiftableor movable so that their positions may be changed as desired and thus give practice in interference by moving them into a play Vafter Ait has started and while in movement. i

" `A further object ofv my invention is to provide an arrangement for positioning certain of the dummies in the vvarious positions taken by the ends on a team in defense and thus give practice in meeting a waiting end, a one step end, a two step end, and a charging end. The invention consistsfurther in the mat ters hereinafter described and more particularly set forth in the appended claims. A

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a. perspective view of an apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention with dummies arranged thereon;

Fig. 2 is afplan view of a' number of the wires showing the manner in which the diverging wires at one side of the apparatus are run to a single point or ring;

Fig. 3 is a view showing the multiple pulley block provided at said ring;

Fig 4 is a front view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; v Q

Fig. 5- is a view of one of the upright posts to show the manner in which several of the wires are attached and arranged; and

Fig. 6 is a front view of pulley block for i a dummy and showing the releasable hook to be hereinafter described. i

As shown in Fig. 1, the apparatus com` prises four corner posts 1, 1, and two sets of side posts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, arranged in the order named on each side of the device.

The posts 1, 2, 3, and 4 at each side of the apparatus are connected togetheradjacent their Lipper ends by a wire 7. Extending between the posts 4,4 is a wire 8 and below this is another wire divided into two end sections 9, 9 and a mid-section 10. The end 3 sections 9, 9 are connected with the midsection by rings 11, 11. To support-the divided wire from the wire 8, a loop 12 is between them, as shown. l

Fromeach ring 11 diverge wires 13, 14,

and 15. These are connected with they asso-V ciated posts 1, 2, and 3, respectively, in the Y order named. These diverging wires, together with the wires 9, 9, provide two sets of' dvergng Wires OHG-Setat each side of the apparatus, and each set consisting of the same, number of wires, namely,four, in an apparatusmade as .shown in Fig. 1.V For the wires of Veach set, I provide tackling dummies 16, 17, 18, and 19, one on each wire, as shown. Arranged substantially parallel with the dividedwire is a wire 20. This is continuous from end to end and extends befy tween the posts 4, 4. This wire serves as a trolley and support for tackling dummies 21, 21. .The wire20 is spaced from the 4divided wire so that the pulley blocks kof the dummies 21 may bemoved along the wire 20 without interference by said divided wire. v

Extending between the posts 5, 5 is a cross-wire 22 to support one or more dummies 23. Extending between the posts 6,6 is a cross-wire 24 to support one. or more dummies 25,25. The posts4, 5, 6 and the end postv 1 adjacent the latter at each side of the apparatus are connected adjacent their upper endsbya wire 26. Extending between the wires 26, 26 is a cross-wire 27 to support a dummy-28. This wire 27 is connected with the side Vwires. 26 betweenV the posts 5, 6, as shown. l y

VAtvfront and rear of the apparatus, the end posts 1 are connected by cross-wires 29, 29, as shown. On the last mentioned one is a dummy 30. The endposts 1 are also connected together diagonally across the appaside guide wires 33, 33, vsecured toground anchors 34, 34, as shown in Fig. 4.

For each of the dummies'there is a pulley block of the form `shown in Fig.V 6. As there illustrated, the block 35 carries a grooved sheave or pulley 36 to roll on one of the wires. The lower end of the block 35 carries a block 37, in which is a swivel hook 33. The block 37 is pivoted or hingedat 39 on one side to the pulley block 35 and releasably engaged on the other side with said pulley block by aV detachable connection 40. This enables the. pulley block to be readily renoved from and placed on a wire, thus permitting positions of the` dummies to be changed from time to time as may be desired. Y

VThe apparatus shown and described is used in the following manner. In Fig. 1, I have shown the dummies arranged for defense. The players are lined up in the usual formation for attack in front of the dummies 21. These are suitably spaced apart onk the wire 2O in a manner to provide interference. for the guar-ds and tackles on the attacking team. Back of them are i placed dummies representing full, half .backs and quarter backs.

The ends of the defending team are represented by the dummies 16 to 19 at the sides of the apparatus. These initially are 'all in position adjacent their respective posts l to 4, as shown vin Fig. 1. vAssuming for illustration that the play is going around right end, 'viewing theapparatus set upas in Fig. 1. With four dummies 16 to 19 at right end any one can be'pulled in on its wire to interfere with the play just as a real end would do. Four dummies 16 to 19 are used vto illustrate four dierent attacks by an end as taught and coached on defense in football; There is what is known as a waiting end. This is taught by ruiming in the dummy 19 on its wire 20`to the position usually taken by a real end, and have the dummy wait the play.

A one step end is another position of defense. By this is meant,the end charges in one step and waits. This is accomplished by running the dummy 13 in on its wire` 15. A two step end would be answered by running the dummy 17 in on itswire14. A straight charging end would be an end charging straight in from his position and cover from one to four steps before meeting the play. This is done by running the dummy 16 in on its wire 13. By having the wires diverging, the dummies can reach their positions in the shortest space of time and be operated from the most convenient points.

After the necessary practice has been had ipsaacs with the end, the play may proceed further, that is, beyond the line of dummies 21, 21, and there interference met with by the use of the dummies 23, 25, 28, and 30. These may be moved along their wires to such positions as the coach may require to best illustrate the play at hand.

The apparatus shown' and described permits the use of a great number of dummies and these, by the releasable. pulley blocks 35,

may be easily moved from wire to wire to present such conditions of playas the coach may wish to show.. :With a plurality of dummies hung up it is possible to have a number tofA players tackling at the same time. It is alsopossibleto have the dummies moving at almost any speed while being tackled and thus instruct in flying tackles and also teach players judge of distance. In this connection, tackling the dummies l16 to 19 on the inclined or converging wires 9 to 13 enables instruction to be had in tackling from dierentl angles.

By having a plurality of dummies and being able to arrange them in many and different positions over a given area of the playing eld, instruction may be had in running in a broken field.

vWith the dummies suspended by pulley blocks and on wires, I can also instruct in interference work. This can be done by moving the dummies successively into positions to interfere with the play as it progresses along the field. The dummies may take the place of the scrub team in practice and thus save the players from injury by not having them tackle each other. A

The apparatus described, when used to instruct in matters of offense,'has the dummies lined up'as if carrying the ball and by moving certain of `the dummies on their wires plays ymay be explained, how blocked, etc.

This apparatus makes it possible to practice and study the various combinations of plays7 both attack and defense, and further enables trying out the plays of opposing teams in advance of the actual games with them in orderto have the advantage in being familiar with their style and character of play. f

The side wires 26, 26 are lower than the wires 7, 7 to allow the diagonal wires 31 to pass overthem to the rings 11. All of the wires are arranged high enough to allow a forward pass to be made.` For each set of dummies 16 to 19, I provide a pulley block 41, as shown in Fig. 3. This has a pluralityl of sheaves42, 42, one foreach dummy. The block 41 'hooks over the yassociated ring 11,-and cables a to daretrained over the sheaves therein. These cables are connected with the respective dummies and have their free lends accessible for moving them. Each post has a base plate 43 provided with pointed studs or prongs 44C to enter the ground and hold the post from slipping thereon. For shifting the other dummies 21, 23, etc., cables may be attached to them and worked from the side lines o-f the apparatus.

While I have shown and described herein in detail an apparatus of my invention, it is of course to be understood that the details of construction and arrangement of parts shown and described may be variously changed and modified without departing 'from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. An apparatus for the practice of football, comprising a plurality of. tackling dummies, and a plurality of cooperative guiding means for distributing said dummies tovvarious playing positions over a playing field.

2. An apparatus for the practice of football, comprising a plurality of tackling dummies, and a plurality of cooperative guiding Vmeans for distributing said dummies to various playing positions over a playing field, certain of the dummies representing ends on a team, the guides for the end dummies` permitting the shifting of said dummies into a number of playing positions.

3. An apparatus for the practice of football, comprising a plurality of tackling dummies, a plurality of cooperative guiding means for distributing said dummies to vaiious playing positions over a playing field, certainl of the dummies representing ends on a team, the guides for the end dummies permitting the shifting of said dummies into a waiting end, a one step end, a two step end, and a charging end.

4:. An apparatus for the practice of football, comprising a plurality of tackling.

dummies, a plurality of cooperative guiding means for distributing said dummies to various playing positions over a playing field, certain of said guiding means permitting a plurality of said dummies to be positioned side by side in a row, and certain others of said guiding means permitting other dummies to be positioned at opposite ends of said row to represent the ends of a team.

5. An apparatus for the practice of football, comprising a plurality of tackling dummies, a plurality of cooperative guiding means for distributing said dummies to vari# ous playing positions kover a playing field, certain of said guiding means permitting a plurality of saiddummies to be positioned side by side in a row, and certain others of said guiding means permitting other dummies to be positioned at opposite ends of said row to represent the ends of a team, said last-named guiding means permitting the individual shifting of said end dummies into various playing positions.

6. An apparatus for the practice of football, comprising a plurality of tackling ball, comprising a plurality of tackling dummies, and a plurality of cooperative guiding means for distributing said dummies to various playing positions over a playing field, and individual means connected to certain of said dummies for moving the same along the associated guiding means,

said vmoving means being actuated from points-outsidel of the playing field.

8. An apparatus for the practice of football, comprising a plurality of wires and tackling dummies suspended therefrom, said wiresv being arranged in a manner permit-ting the dummies to be distributed in various positions over an area of a playing field.

9. An apparatus for the practice of football comprising a plurality of wires and tackling dummies suspended therefrom,said wires being arranged in a manner permitting the dummies to be distributed over an area of a playing field, said wires permitting the shifting of said dummies so that the positions thereof may be changed.

10. An apparatus for the practice of football, comprising upright corner and side posts, wires extending across the apparatus between said posts, a plurality of tackling dummies,4 and pulley blocks on said wires for suspending the dummies therefrom and permitting the shifting of said dummies on Y said wires. Y

11. An apparatus for the practice of football, comprising upright corner and side posts, wires extending across the apparatus between said posts, a plurality of tackling dummies, and pulley blocks on said wires for suspending the dunnnies therefrom and permitting the shifting of the dummies on said wires, said pulley blocks being releasab'ly engaged with said wires so that the dummies may on other wires.

12. YAn apparatus for the practice of football, comprising a plurality of substantially parallel cross-wires, a plurality of wires diverging outward from one of said crosswires on each side of the apparatus, upright,V

be removed therefrom and placed 

